Italy's anti-corruption chief
Raffaele Cantone has expressed confidence that preparations for
the much-awaited Milan Expo 2015 will be ready in time for the
official opening on May 1.
"I think we'll make it," said Cantone Thursday, on the
sidelines of a meeting at the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
Meanwhile, Lombardy governor Roberto Maroni was visiting
Israel as part of a World Expo Tour to promote the
six-month-long Universal Exposition in Italy's financial
capital.
And the governor on Thursday announced that former Israeli
president and Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres will be in Milan
to visit Expo, probably in September.
A number of world leaders have announced they will be
attending the event, which is expected to attract over 20
million visitors and will see the participation of a record 140
countries.
Italy will issue two-euro coins dedicated to the Expo, as
well as to medieval poet Dante Alighieri on the 750th
anniversary of his birth, the treasury department announced on
Thursday.
The coins will be legal tender throughout all of the
eurozone countries, just like any other two-euro coins.
Italy is gearing up for Expo, which runs under the banner
'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life' and will provide a unique
occasion to showcase the country's products of excellence.
Indeed, pizza makers in Naples this week baked the first
Neapolitan 'controlled designation of origin' pizza that will
become a symbol of the upcoming world's fair.
The event was organized by farmers' union Coldiretti as the
Italian UNESCO Commission is expected to approve a proposal to
include the art of the traditional pizza-maker in the UN
cultural organization's Representative List of Intangible
Cultural Heritage.
Milan Expo will also focus on Sicilian islands and
Mediterranean biodiversity, Sicily's regional agriculture
councilor Nino Caleca said at the presentation for the
Bio-Mediterranean cluster pavilion at Milan's Expo Gate this
week.
"We will begin the Expo with a week dedicated to the
(Sicilian) islands and their products, starting from
Pantelleria's passito raisin," he announced.
In addition, Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, a mainstay of
the island's production and key ingredient in the Mediterranean
diet, will star at the Biomed cluster at the Expo.
On January 29, the agriculture ministry assigned it the
Protected Geographical Identification (PGI) "Olio Extra Vergine
di Oliva IGP Sicilia" - which benefits both producers and
consumers, who receive a guarantee of the quality of Sicilian
olive oil.
Sicily is the second region after Tuscany to obtain the
recognition, which is based on the principle that only
autochthonous varieties can be certified, and all production,
processing and bottling must take place in the region.
Expo will host theme-based pavilions, along with clusters
representing some 90 countries and a record 53-single nation
pavilions.
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